US ambassador to China makes rare 2-day visit to Hong Kong amid efforts by city’s lawmakers to fast-track Article 23 bill

Nicholas Burns visits Foreign Correspondents’ Club for closed-door session, but refuses to comment on whether trip is related to city’s domestic national security bill

Source says meetings part of efforts to gather views on Hong Kong’s future in the context of broader US-China relations

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Nicholas Burns (right), US ambassador to China, visits the Foreign Correspondents’ Club for an off-the-record, closed-door session. Photo: Eugene Lee

Published: 6:15pm, 12 Mar 2024Updated: 11:26pm, 12 Mar 2024

The US ambassador to China has made a rare two-day visit to Hong Kong amid the legislature’s marathon review of the city’s domestic national security law.

Nicholas Burns visited the Foreign Correspondents’ Club in Central on Tuesday morning accompanied by Gregory May, the United States consul general for Hong Kong and Macau.

Burns did not take any questions on whether his trip was related to the coming domestic national security legislation, which the city is required to pass under Article 23 of the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution.

A source said the trip was part of efforts to gather views on Hong Kong’s future in the context of broader US-China relations.

Burns is joined by Gregory May (centre), the US consul general for Hong Kong and Macau, outside the Foreign Correspondents’ Club. Photo: Eugene Lee

Sources told the Post that the top envoy was there to meet the board members of the press club for an off-the-record, closed-door session. The club has held similar exchanges with local and foreign politicians, as well as newsmakers, in such settings in the past.

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